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All of the benefit information below has been complied by COPS, a support group for police survivors.
Rev.03/05
STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
DEATH BENEFITS
To obtain certified copies of registered personal documents, contact the Mississippi
Department of Health, P. O. Box 1700, Jackson, MS 39215, phone (601) 960-7975.
STATE DEATH BENEFITS
In 1999, the governor signed into law a bill that authorizes a one-time state death benefit
when a law enforcement officer, while engaged in the performance of the officer's law
enforcement duties, is accidentally or intentionally killed or receives accidental or intentional
bodily injury that results in the loss of the officer's life, provided that the killing is not the
result of suicide and that the bodily injury is not intentionally self-inflicted. As of July 2002,
this benefit is $20,000.
The payment shall be made to the beneficiary that was designated in writing by the law
enforcement officer, signed by the officer, and delivered to the employer during the officer's
lifetime. If no such designation is made then the payment shall be made to the officer's
surviving child or children and spouse in equal portions, and if there is no surviving child or
spouse, then to the officer's parent or parents. If a beneficiary is not designated and there is no
surviving child, spouse or parent, then the payment shall be made to the officer's estate.
For the necessary forms to make a claim for this benefit, the family or the agency should
contact the legal department at the Mississippi Department of Public Safety at 601-987-
1265.
STATE PENSION BENEFITS
There are pension options that a law enforcement officer may choose when setting up his/her
pension benefits. The option chosen dictates whether the surviving spouse would lose
pension upon remarriage and if pension would be reinstated upon divorce.
Members of the Mississippi Highway Patrol Retirement System may obtain additional
information by calling or writing: Ms. Donna Edwards, 429 Mississippi Street, Jackson,
MS 39201; (601) 359- 3589.
EDUCATION BENEFITS
The Mississippi Law Enforcement Officers and Firemen Scholarship Program offers
scholarships to the spouses and children (natural, adopted or stepchildren) of full-time
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Mississippi law enforcement officers and the spouses and children of full-time Mississippi
firemen/firefighters who were fatally injured or totally disabled from injuries which occurred
while performing official duties.
Under the program, the amount of assistance available is tuition plus the average cost of a
dormitory room plus required fees plus applicable course fees. The Scholarship does not
include books, food, school supplies and materials, school dues or fees for extracurricular
activities. Recipients are entitled to 8 semesters of scholarship assistance; however, children
are only entitled to the Scholarship until the age of 23.
To be eligible, the surviving spouse or child must be a current legal Mississippi resident and
be enrolled as a full-time student at a Mississippi state-supported college or university.
There are no service/repayment requirements for this Scholarship. There is no application
priority date for this Scholarship Program.
For information and/or an application packet, contact the Mississippi Institutions of
Higher Learning, 3825 Ridgewood Road, Jackson, MS 39211-6453, phone 601-432-6570
or toll free in Mississippi 1-800-327-2980, fax 601-432-6527.
POLICE CORPS SCHOLARSHIP FUNDS
The Police Corps is administered by the Office of the Police Corps and Law Enforcement
Education (OPCLEE), within the Office of Justice Programs, US Department of Justice, in
partnership with participating States that have submitted an approved State Plan. Information
can be found at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/opclee.
The Police Corps awards scholarships and reimburses educational expenses to students who
agree to work in a State or local police force for at least four years. Students must pursue an
undergraduate or graduate degree in a course of study which, in the judgment of the State or
local police force to which the participant will be assigned, includes appropriate preparation
for police service. Police Corps funds cover education expenses (including tuition, fees,
books, supplies, transportation, room and board, and miscellaneous expenses) up to $7,500
per academic year, with a limit on total payments to any student of $30,000.
Police Corps scholarship funds are also available to dependent children of law
enforcement officers killed in the line of duty if the death occurred within the state after
that state was approved to participate in the Police Corps program. In Mississippi, the
death must have occurred since April 1997. These scholarships may be applied to any
course of study, without any service or repayment obligation.
Police Corps participants are selected on a competitive basis by each State under regulations
prescribed by OPCLEE.
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For more information, contact: Mr. Keith Oubre, University of Southern Mississippi,
Office of the Police Corps, Box 5084, Hattiesburg, MS 39406, telephone (601) 266-6770
or (800) 767-7334, www.mississippipolicecorps.org, ms.police@usm.edu.
HEALTH BENEFITS
State health benefits are administered by Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Mississippi, Inc. P.O.
Box 1043, Jackson, MS 39215; (601) 939- 0494. Health benefits are not supplemented by
state to surviving spouse, and/or dependent children. Employee's insurance is paid by the
state.
WORKERS' COMPENSATION
Workers' Compensation coverage is compulsory for employers in Mississippi with 5 or more
employees.
Compensation for disability or in death cases shall not exceed 66 2/3% of the average weekly
wage for the state per week, with a minimum weekly benefit of $25 except in partial
dependency and partial disability cases and a maximum weekly benefit of $243.75 for a
maximum period of 450 weeks. Total maximum payable is $109,687. There is a maximum
burial allowance of $2,000.
An additional sum of $250 is payable to widows. Children receive benefits until age 18 or
beyond age 18 if disabled or until age 23 if full-time students.
To receive workers' compensation benefits the surviving spouse must take the initiative and
file a workers' compensation claim through a workers' compensation attorney to receive any
compensation. The determination as to whether the claim will be paid will be determined by
the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board.
Contact the Workers' Compensation Commission at 1428 Lakeland Drive, Jackson, MS
39216, telephone (601) 987-4200.
PERSONAL LIFE POLICY - INTESTATE
Descent and Distribution - Surviving spouse takes all if no children or descendants of
children, otherwise a child's share.
Other heirs take in following order: (1) Children and descendants of deceased children, per
stirpes; (2) parents, brothers, sisters equally, issue of deceased brothers and sisters taking per
stirpes; (3) grandparents and uncles and aunts per stirpes; (4) otherwise next of kin in equal
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degree, computed by the rules of the civil law. There is no representation among collaterals,
except among descendants of brothers and sisters. (91-1-3).
PEER SUPPORT
Established in 1984, Concerns of Police Survivors, Inc. (COPS), is a national, non-profit
organization that works with law enforcement agencies, police organizations, mental health
professional, and local peer-support organizations to provide assistance to surviving families
of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. COPS has become a "lifeline" to police
survivors nationwide. Contact COPS at 573-346-4911, visit www.nationalcops.org, or
email cops@nationalcops.org.
ADDITIONAL BENEFITS
The Mississippi State Troopers Association provides death benefits in addition to the above
outlined benefits. The member's beneficiary receives $5,000 resulting from death caused by
accident or natural causes.
The state police memorial is located at Mississippi Department of Public Safety, 1900 East
Woodrow Wilson Drive, Jackson, MS 39216.
Southern States Police Benevolent Association, Inc.
The PBA member’s beneficiary will receive their base salary for one if year they are killed
accidentally or intentionally while performing their law enforcement duties (maximum
payout: $60,000). The beneficiary will receive $5,000 if it is not an occupational death or if
you are a retired or reserve member. Any active Southern States PBA member in good
standing and dues current will receive this benefit. Contact: Southern States Police
Benevolent Association, Inc., 1900 Brannan Road, McDonough, GA 30253-4310,
telephone 1-800-233-3506, or visit www.sspba.org.
All of the benefit information above has been complied by COPS, a support group for police survivors.
Contact the National Office of Concerns of Police Survivors, Inc. for additional information, or to support any of COPS' programs.
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Web site copyrighted © 2005 by Lydia Warner Miller
